# Was there ever a time when McDonald's food was markedly better? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [March 7, 2023, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-time-when-mcdonalds-food-was-markedly-better/980843 "2023-03-07T18:02:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-time-when-mcdonalds-food-was-markedly-better/980843/61 "2023-03-07T22:58:29Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > [He keeps track](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Gorske). And he’s actually quite healthy and active. > _Gorske claims the Big Mac constitutes 90-95% of his total solid food intake._ In the words of our generation’s finest thespian: [https://thumbs.gfycat.com/FlamboyantBlissfulAmericanrobin-size\_restricted.gif](https://thumbs.gfycat.com/FlamboyantBlissfulAmericanrobin-size_restricted.gif) Stranger ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-time-when-mcdonalds-food-was-markedly-better/980843/62 "2023-03-07T22:59:13Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > I am bit surprised by this because every Whopper I’ve ever had, whether good or bad establishments, have been overly greased mess. > [@NDP](#): > > Every time I’ve had a Burger King burger, it’s always tasted dry. You guys should resolve this contradiction between yourselves! 😉 I can only assume there must be significant variations among the different franchises. The BK near me, judging by their uproarious reaction to my Ukrainian car flag, must be run be either Ukrainians or Ukrainian-adjacents who know how to make burgers! 😉 Regardless, if you’re in Canada, and want the best fast-food burger from a major chain, get it at Harvey’s. Or, for the best burger ever, if you happen to know me, get it at Chez Wolfpup. My business hours are: Closed. By Appointment Only. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-time-when-mcdonalds-food-was-markedly-better/980843/63 "2023-03-07T23:01:17Z")
There was a small-chain fast food place near me called Foster’s Freeze, which was not unlike DQ, You could get burger and fries, and ice cream. Anyway, they used to griddle fry the burgers and soak the bun in the grease, just like momma used to make. mmm…mmm. I miss that. My arteries probably don’t. > [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > OT: but I still don’t understand why Kroc didn’t just glean enough info about the operation, and go start his own burger place. Because no one would buy a Krocburger. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-time-when-mcdonalds-food-was-markedly-better/980843/64 "2023-03-07T23:02:51Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > There was a small-chain fast food place near me called Foster’s Freeze, which was not unlike DQ, You could get burger and fries, and ice cream. Oh, gawd, I loved Foster’s Freeze. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-time-when-mcdonalds-food-was-markedly-better/980843/65 "2023-03-07T23:13:44Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > Absolutely not. > > Quarter Pounder with Cheese runs circles around a Whopper. I’m with you. BK is my absolute least favorite burger and that “grilled” taste is nauseating. Yuck. If I end up at BK,I order anything but the burger products. McD’s is fine. Nothing great, nothing terrible, reasonably consistent and it tastes just like I remember it tasting it from my childhood in the 80s. Bring back that Cheddar Melt!! ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-time-when-mcdonalds-food-was-markedly-better/980843/66 "2023-03-07T23:18:49Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Bullshit. I was getting ketchup only burgers at McDonald’s in the late 60’s which is as early as I can remember. I didn’t mean to upset anyone. And I did try to walk it back a bit. > [@Procrustus](#): > > Granted, not impossible. Poor choice of words on my part. But difficult and they often screwed it up. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-time-when-mcdonalds-food-was-markedly-better/980843/67 "2023-03-07T23:19:33Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Don’t know the joke, but a saying of my father’s was “You don’t go to McDonald’s for hamburgers, you go to McDonald’s for McDonald’s.” My wife, when she was a teenager, worked at an A&W in a food court. When she had to take the garbage out back, she’d get a whiff of the dumpsters from the various food joints, which all smelled of the same rotting grossness… except for the McDonald’s dumpster, which she reported just smelled like McDonald’s. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-time-when-mcdonalds-food-was-markedly-better/980843/68 "2023-03-07T23:21:55Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > OT: but I still don’t understand why Kroc didn’t just glean enough info about the operation, and go start his own burger place. I wasn’t under the impression that the McDonald’s name was particularly famous at the time. All kidding aside, in part it WAS because he just liked the name. He thought it sounded comfortably middle class American. The other thing, of course, is that he got the McDonald brothers on board. It’s not that easy to learn how something that complex works. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-time-when-mcdonalds-food-was-markedly-better/980843/69 "2023-03-07T23:28:08Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > I remember being able to order a plain hamburger at McDonalds back then. I think they called them ‘grill’ orders. You could wait a long time when they were busy. They were taking order on paper back then, and sometimes little boxes to check for the condiments you wanted. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-time-when-mcdonalds-food-was-markedly-better/980843/70 "2023-03-07T23:32:54Z")
The first time my mom took my sisters and me to McDonalds was probably 1961 when I was about seven years old, way before the Big Mac, several years before indoor eating (at least in our area), before even the “over 200 million sold” signs. Before any real competition locally unless you count Burger Chef, which was a step down from McDonalds, even. The burgers were strictly the 1.6 oz. basic burgers, with a squirt of ketchup, a squirt of yellow mustard, and a pickle on each one. I disliked yellow mustard and pickles (still do), but if we’d eaten at home, Mom would have thrown the contents of one of those brick-shaped vegetable packages into a pot of boiling water, and would have insisted we eat that spinach or brussels sprouts or whatever along with whatever the main course was. (If she wanted us to grow up hating vegetables, she went about it the right way.) So as mediocre as McDonalds burgers were, they still beat eating at home. And we got to have a shake as part of the deal, so that was a clear win for MickeyD’s. But that was the real competition. Not some other restaurant, but whatever crap Mom was going to fix for us on the nights Dad was working late or on a business trip. So we loved McDonalds. ETA: I have no idea whether we could have ordered McDonalds burgers with just the condiments we wanted. I was seven, after all, my mother was doing the ordering, and I wasn’t going to rock any boat that kept the frozen spinach from being part of my supper. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-time-when-mcdonalds-food-was-markedly-better/980843/71 "2023-03-07T23:40:21Z")
> [@themapleleaf](#): > > nd the McRoyal - I.E., what they call a Quarter Pounder where I now live, has apparently shrunk recently, if not other sandwiches So John Travolta / Quentin Tarantino lied to me 😜? I thought they called it a Royale with cheese 😅. ---
**Author:** ![dougrb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dougrb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougrb)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-time-when-mcdonalds-food-was-markedly-better/980843/72 "2023-03-07T23:47:46Z")
I remember MickeyD’s being absolutely amazing in the late 70’s to early 80’s while I was in high school. But we were high as fuck. Later in life when work would send me to some god forsaken place where MickeyD’s was one of the few options… it was still pretty damn good. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-time-when-mcdonalds-food-was-markedly-better/980843/73 "2023-03-07T23:49:30Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Or, for the best burger ever, if you happen to know me, get it at Chez Wolfpup. My business hours are: Closed. By Appointment Only. The best burger ever is made at [Duffy’s Tavern](http://www.duffystavernami.com/menu) on Anna Maria Island in Florida. They make the only burger I’ve ever had that I like better than the burgers I grill myself. (At some point, they were voted one of the top 10 “hamburger heavens” in the country by USA Today, so it’s not just my opinion.) My favorite is their brie and caramelized onion cheeseburger. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-time-when-mcdonalds-food-was-markedly-better/980843/74 "2023-03-07T23:56:57Z")
> [@themapleleaf](#): > > As I recall, in the film “The Founder”, a biopic about how Ray Kroc discovered the original McDonald brothers’ restaurant and decided to franchise it, in the scene where Kroc comes to the ur-McDonald’s and takes his first meal there, he says to himself that it’s the best burger he’s ever eaten. It occurs to me that, even if Kroc did consider it the best burger he’d ever eaten, he might not necessarily have meant the best-tasting. There are many different ways that something can be good, and I think it’s fair to say that a burger that would earn me a bazillion dollars would be a very good burger indeed, even if its flavor was mediocre. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-time-when-mcdonalds-food-was-markedly-better/980843/75 "2023-03-07T23:59:58Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > McDonald’s _used_ to try to appeal to children and families, but not any longer, I don’t think Do you watch children’s programing or adult programming? 😉 > [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > The husband of a friend of mine has eaten nearly 33,000 Big Macs since 1972 Wait, unless my math is off that’s a little under 2 a day! For 50 years! Wow. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-time-when-mcdonalds-food-was-markedly-better/980843/76 "2023-03-08T00:07:10Z")
My mother liked McDonald’s when i was a kid, because it was cheap and she didn’t have to cook. But i hated the burger, and wouldn’t eat it. I did like the fries. I tried the shake once, but i didn’t finish it, and the leftover separated in the fridge, and really grossed me out. And the one time i tried the pie it burned the roof of my mouth. When she bought McDonald’s, she stopped at Maria’s subs, and got me a roast beef sub with oil and vinegar. My dad also got a sub, which i suppose is why i was allowed to. Anyway, the fries were really good when they were made in beef tallow. I still eat the filet-o-fish, which is okay. I still don’t eat the burger. Other than the fries, and a slightly broader menu, i don’t think it’s changed much. And i certainly don’t think it was ever very good. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-time-when-mcdonalds-food-was-markedly-better/980843/77 "2023-03-08T00:15:48Z")
> [@Jaycat.again](#): > > Is your friend named Melania? No, but I am all too acquainted with Melena (in a professional capacity only). ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-time-when-mcdonalds-food-was-markedly-better/980843/78 "2023-03-08T00:27:55Z")
I personally also rank McDonalds above Burger King, but only since I started eating the patties by themselves. While I like the “flame broiled” taste, BK seems to not salt or add any other seasoning. McD’s have just enough salt to bring out the flavor, and the Quarter Pounder at least seems to have a bit of pepper. Wendy’s would vary in seasoning even at the same location. And Hardee’s used to be flavorful with just the right amount of salt and pepper, but they changed it to just have salt. I agree that McD’s fries were better before, but mostly because they would stay good longer. If you get them hot enough, they taste just about as good as they did before. Finally, do note that the labels are based on pre-cooked weight, and can legally involve rounding. It could very much be possible that the cooked burger patty shrank. ---
**Author:** ![Mortimus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Mortimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mortimus)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-time-when-mcdonalds-food-was-markedly-better/980843/79 "2023-03-08T00:48:46Z")
A few years back, a Big Mac was the best burger I ever had. I spent 2 weeks in a hospital on a NO salt, NO fat, NO sugar, NO flavor diet. My wife was driving me home upon being sprung from my prison. I knew there was a Mc Dee’s on the way. She kindly drove me thru the drive thru where I ordered a Big Mac, large fries and a coke. I inhaled the Big Mac before we got out of the parking lot and all of the fries before we were on the on-ramp to the highway home. That’s more testimony against my hospital diet than praise of Mc Dee’s food quality. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-time-when-mcdonalds-food-was-markedly-better/980843/80 "2023-03-08T00:51:44Z")
When they introduced the Big Mac, it was really pretty damn good. But by maybe 1979-1980 it seemed that half the time I got a Big Mac, there would be hardly any ‘special sauce’ and they’d skimp on the other condiments, and the whole thing would be dry and boring. I can’t remember the last time I got a McDonalds burger of any sort (I’ll get the filet of fish if I have to get something there at all) so I can’t say whether or not they’ve improved since 1980. Can’t speak to their fries, because I’m weird and have never cared much for their fries. But since I’ve got a teenager, there have been many times over the past dozen or so years when I’ve had the opportunity to taste them again, and for the most part, my opinion hasn’t changed: they’re boring as sin. Except for every once in a while. Seven or eight years ago, I was picking up some MickeyD’s for my wife and son, and they had some four-for special, so I drove home with four of everything. So I was munching the extra order of fries on the way, and they were actually _good_. They tasted as good as people say McDonalds fries taste. They were still good after they cooled down, even. If McDonalds fries tasted like that all the time, I’d be eating their fries all the time. And about once every year or two since, I’ll taste some MickeyD’s fries that taste like they did that time I just described. The most recent time happened just the other day, and I had to restrain myself from eating most of my son’s fries, because my wife hadn’t brought any home for me. (Not her fault, she knows how I feel about them.) But the rest of the time, they’re still one of the most boring foods I’ve ever bothered to try to eat. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-time-when-mcdonalds-food-was-markedly-better/980843.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-time-when-mcdonalds-food-was-markedly-better/980843.md?page=5)